A jealous thug attacked a former lover who was grieving over the death of a relative and being comforted by a male friend.

Matthew Bevan, from New Romney, took umbrage when he saw a message from the friend on her mobile phone and put a knife to her throat.

Canterbury Crown Court heard although she was pregnant he accused her of adultery calling her vile names.

Judge James O’Mahony told him: “You repeatedly resort to serious violence and threatening abuse in different ways.”

Bevan appeared by prison video link where he already serving a sentence for drugs offences.

But now the judge has given the 36 year old father-of-two a 34 month sentence and ruled he will have to serve it AFTER he completes a 58 month jail sentence and was due for release in July 2020.

And he ruled he had to stay away from his former lover and her family until further notice

Prosecutor Peter Forbes said the relationship, which began when she was a teenager and resumed again in 2015, had been “ a troubled one”.

In April last year a friend of the victim had died and she was comforted by a friend because she was sad.

“He came home, grabbed a knife and accused her of sleeping with her friend. She put the knife to her throat and she fled her home.”

Mr Forbes said that six months later he smashed a TV and grabbed her by the throat accusing her of cheating on him.

“He then grabbed her arms and flung her onto a console unit, bruising her leg and stomach, “ he said.

In March this year, he was on bail with restrictions but he sent her a number of texts and was later seen hanging around near her children’s school.

Mr Forbes said she later saw him walking towards her with “ a mad look on his face” and threatened to kill her if the earlier charges weren’t dropped before being seen on a street corner laughing.

Bevan admitted making a threat to kill, assault by beating and stalking his ex.